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Treacle Tart |
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The breadcrumbs for this should come from a nice French or Italian loaf. Whenever you have one, and you don't use quite all of it, trim most of the crust off, whirl the bread, in chunks, in a food processor, and store the crumbs in a container or two in the freezer until you have enough. If you're planning, you can use fresh, but do not use dried bread crumbs.
Originally made with treacle, this is now usually made with the gentler-flavoured golden syrup. Try both and see which you prefer. You could try other syrups, but the distinctive flavour of a proper treacle tart depends on Lyle's Golden Syrup or Lyle's Black Treacle, a brand out of the U,K, that uses the syrupy byproduct of the refining of sugar cane. If your local grocery store doesn't carry it, you can guess where it can be ordered.
Pre-heat your oven to 400F.
To help get the syrup out of the can, heat the can in a bath of hot water until the syrup flows easily, then pour the syrup into a saucepan along with the breadcrumbs and either the ginger or the lemon zest and juice and heat it gently. Stir it well so that the breadcrumbs are all quite coated. Cool.
Roll out the dough and use it to line a 9" pie plate. Pour in the syrup/breadcrumbs mixture and spread it evenly. Roll out the dough trimmings and cut them into long, narrow strips or other artistic shapes. Arrange them in a lattice pattern (traditional) over the filling or any other creative pattern that amuses you (see photo).
If you want your pastry browner, brush the edges and decoration with a little milk—it really doesn't affect the flavour.
Bake in a moderately hot oven (400F) for 25–30 min or until the pastry is slightly browned
Serve hot or cold, with whipped cream.
